Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 2,029 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,029 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 262.1% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $140.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.73 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.